Summary In the interest of preserving the ecology of the offshore islands and coastal zone with regard to possible oil spills or other incidents considered harmful to the environment, location of the superport is recommended south of 29° 50'. This restriction on the location would allow sufficient time to execute an expedient oilcleanup in the event of a spill. Locating the port at this latitude and at approximately longitude 88° 15'W (no further west) will place the port in the most favorable position to take advantage of the high density water mass that travels in a cyclonic manner around the lighter water over the shelf due to the Mississippi River discharge. This entrainment by the prevailing current regime would tend to keep the spilled oil offshore for a period of time, provided there were no adverse winds, allowing cleanup operations to be undertaken. Winter would be the safest period in the event of a spill with the combination of favorable factors being the high rates of river discharge and offshore winds. The most unfavorable period would be during the summer and fall with low rates of river discharge and southerly winds. REFERENCES AND DATA SOURCES Brahtz, J. S. (Ed). 1968. Ocean Engineering, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Christmas, J. J. Data and figures from a forthcoming report on Mississippi estuaries. Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Cochrane, J. D. 1963. "Yucatan Current," in Unpublished report of the Department of Oceanography and Meteorology, A & M College of Texas. Reference 63-18A. Cronin, Eugene (Coordinator), E. W. Fager, M. G. Gross, G. Gunter, D. Hood, D. W. Pritchard, and E. Salo. 1971. Preliminary analysis of the ecological aspects' of deep port creation and superships operation. Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources, Report 71-10:31p. Curray, J. R. 1960. Sediments and history of Holocene transgression, continental Franks, J. S., J. Y. Christmas, W. L. Siler, Combs, R. Waller and C. Burns. 1972. A study of nektonic and benthic faunas of the shallow Gulf of Mexico off the State of Mississippi. Gulf Research Reports 4(1):1-148. Groen, T. 1967. The Waters of the Sea, D. Van Nostrand. London. Kolpack, Ronald L. 1971. Biological and oceanographical survey of the Santa Barbara oil spill, 1969-1970. Vol. II, Physical, chemical and geological studies. Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California, 477 p. Moore, D., H. A. Brusher and L. Trent. 1970. Relative abundance, seasonal distribu tion, and species composition of demersal fishes off Louisiana and Texas. National Marine Fisheries Service. Data from D. J. Bond, Bayou La Batre statistical agent on shrimp landings by Data from the Southwest Fisheries Center, Pascagoula, Mississippi, on experimental fishing results in the area from 1950 through 1972. Nicholson, Nancy L., and Robert L. Cimberg. 1971. The Santa Barbara oil spills of 1969: A post-spill survey of the rocky intertidal. Chap. 17:325-400. In Biological and oceanographical survey of the Santa Barbara channel oil spill, 1969-1970. Vol. I, Biology and Bacteriology, Allan Hancock Foundation, University of Southern California. Roithmayr, C. M. 1965. Industrial bottom fish fishery of the northern Gulf of Mexico, 1959-63. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Spec. Sci. Rept. Fisheries No. 518, 23 P. Rounsefell, George A. 1972. Ecological effects of offshore construction, Journal of Marine Science, Alabama, 2(1):208 p. Sheets, H. E. and B. T. Boatwright, Jr. ('8%), 1970. Budimanttes, Acaderi, Straughan, Dale. 1971. Breeding and larval settlement of certain intertidal invertebrates in the Santa Barbara channel following pollution by oil. Chap. 10:223-244. Chapter 11:245-254. 1971. Oil pollution and fisheries in the Santa Barbara channel. U. S. Hydrographic Office, Charts 10, 690, 1-12, Washington, D. C. Cronin, Eugene L., Director of the Natural Resources Institute. Preliminary Analysis of the Ecological Aspects of Deep Port Creation and Supership Operation. Alexandria, Virginia: U. S. Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources, 1971. Drennan, Kirby L. Airborne Measurements of Infrared Sea Temperature in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Ocean Springs, Mississippi: Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Oceanography Section Technical Report, No. 2, December, 1966. Drennan, Kirby L. Hydrographic Studies in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico. New Iberia, Louisiana: Gulf South Research Institute, Environmental Sciences and Engineering Laboratories, January, 1968. Franceschini, Guy A. The Distribution of the Mean Monthly Wind Stress Over the Gulf of Mexico. College Station, Texas: Texas A & M Research Foundation, 1966. Gaul, R. D. and R. E. Boykin. Northeast Gulf of Mexico Hydrographic Survey Data Collected in 1963. College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Department of Oceanography and Meteorology, October 30, 1964. Gaul, R. D. and R. E. Boykin. Northeast Gulf of Mexico Hydrographic Survey Data Collected in 1964. College Station, Texas: Texas A & M University Department of Oceanography and Meteorology, March 30, 1965. Gagliano, Sherwood M., John W. Day, Jr., and Jack R. Van Lopik. Environmental Aspects of Louisiana Deep Water Port Development. Dallas, Texas: American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc., 1972. Nowlin, Dr. Worth D., Jr. "Water Masses and General Circulation of the Gulf of Mexico," Oceanography International and Offshore Technology, Vol. VI., No. 2 (February, 1971), pp. 28-33. THE AMERAPORT CORPORATION 501 Dexter Avenue OFFICERS Sen. L. W. Noonan Chairman Barrett Shelton, Sr. Secretary R. C. (Red) Bamberg Col. Reuben Wheelis STAFF Dr. John Moeller William F. Moore Deputy Assistant AMERAPORT CORPORATION RESEARCH FUNDS CAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP Barrett Shelton, Sr. G. Thornton Nelson AREA CHAIRMEN Bailey Anderson |